William Henry McGuire (May 31, 1873 – October 31, 1957) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

senator who represented

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

for 30 years.

Biography

Early life and education

William Henry McGuire was born May 31, 1873, on a family farm near

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

, one of the 14 children of John and Ellen McGuire of Seymour Township. He attended high school in

Campbellford, Ontario Campbellford is an unincorporated place and former town in Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, in the township municipality of Trent Hills. It lies approximately midway between Toronto and Ottawa. It is situated on both the Trent-Severn W ...

, and was assisted in attaining higher education by an older brother, Father Michael McGuire, who was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest in the area. William "Billy" McGuire graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1903 and studied law at

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, ...

Career

He practiced as a lawyer first in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, and then in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, and was a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

. He was named to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

by Prime Minister

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

on December 20, 1926 and served East York until his death on October 31, 1957, an impressive total of 30 years, 10 months and 12 days. Senator McGuire was influential in the

Irish-Canadian ga, Gael-Cheanadaigh , image = Irish_Canadian_population_by_province.svg , image_caption = Irish Canadians as percent of population by province/territory , population = 4,627,00013.4% of the Canadian population (2016) , po ...

/Roman Catholic communities. He and Senator Frank Patrick O'Connor (Scarborough Junction) acquired a vacant church in the village of

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

(Lawrence Avenue East, east of Victoria Park Avenue, now in the Scarborough area of Toronto) to establish Precious Blood parish. Due to its once-vacant state, the original red brick church, even after its rejuvenation, was known for many years as "the pigeon church." Senator McGuire also owned a farm with an

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

named "Belmore" across Lawrence Avenue from the church and, although the area is now entirely urban and

Wexford Collegiate Institute Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts (commonly known as Wexford Collegiate, WCSA, Wexford CSA, Wexford or "Wex" for short), formerly and still known as Wexford Collegiate Institute (WCI) and initially known as Northwest Collegiate Institute is ...

occupies the site of his home, many of the mature trees in the area were planted by him.

Marriage and children

William Henry McGuire married Anna McNevin (1881–1954) in 1911 and had one daughter, Mary Aileen (1913–1959), who also became a lawyer. He was father-in-law to

James Worrall James Worrall, (June 23, 1914 – October 9, 2011) was a Canadian lawyer, Olympic track and field athlete, and sports administrator. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, Worrall emigrated to Montreal, Quebec in 1922. He received a Bachelor of Sci ...

, lawyer, international track and field athlete, and

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

representative to Canada.

References

Sources: Family,

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

(Senate)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGuire, William Henry 1873 births 1957 deaths Canadian senators from Ontario Liberal Party of Canada senators University of Toronto alumni